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William Henry Finlay

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Name
  
William Finlay

Role
  
Astronomer

Discovered
  
15P/Finlay


Died
  
December 7, 1924, Cape Town, South Africa

William Henry Finlay (born 17 June 1849 in Liverpool; died 7 December 1924 in Cape Town, South Africa) was a South African astronomer. He was First Assistant at the Cape Observatory from 1873 to 1898 under Edward James Stone. He discovered the periodic comet 15P/Finlay. Earlier, he was one of the first to spot the "Great Comet of 1882" (C/1882 R1). The first telegraphic determinations of longitude along the western coast of Africa were made by Finlay and T. F. Pullen.

Publications

  • On the variations of the instrumental adjustments of the Cape transit-circle. Annals of the Cape Observatory, vol. 1, pt. 5. 1885. 
  • Telegraphic determinations of the longitudes of Lourenco Marques (Delagoa Bay), Mozambique, and Zanzibar, and the longitude of Quilimane. Annals of the Cape Observatory, vol. 1, pt. 3. 1886. 
  • with T. F. Pullen: Telegraphic Determinations of Longitudes on the West Coast of Africa. London: Hydrographic Department, Admiralty. 1891. 
  • Star-correction Tables. London: H.M.'s Stationery Office. 1895. 

    • References

    William Henry Finlay Wikipedia
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